From me, an Admirer
by AccordingToMel
Summary: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.
1. Day 1

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None

**Word Count**: 798

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: So I am crazy and signed up for the "12 Days of Cadgins" challenge on the cam_hodgins community on livejournal. This was literally written in like half an hour. So keep that in mind. But alas...I needed to get it done before the day was done! Also, this is the most unoriginal concept in the history of ever, but I had short notice on this thing, so too bad for you!! Hope you enjoy anyway :)

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 1**

The first time the mail arrives, it is nearing the end of an incredibly long week, and everyone is at their wits end and ready for the weekend.

So when Randy from security heads towards the platform with a small parcel, requesting Cam's attention, she's not quite in the mood to deal with whatever it is that has arrived.

"What is it Randy?" Cam asks shortly, arms folded across her chest in a far more aggressive manner than is strictly necessary.

"This package just arrived for you, Dr. Saroyan," Randy mutters, holding out the parcel to her.

She raises a single brow. "And you thought it was important enough to interrupt me while working?" Cam queries, recognizing how frustrated she sounds but unable to keep the tone away anyway.

Randy, for his part, looks nonplussed by her attitude. "There were strict instructions that the package was to be delivered to you immediately. I'm just following orders," he shares with her, shrugging nonchalantly.

Cam lets out a sigh and then finally takes the package from Randy's hands. He nods, shooting a sickeningly sweet smile in her direction before heading back to where he came from.

"What is that?" Cam hears Angela ask curiously, coming to stand beside her.

She shrugs and holds out the parcel. "A package of some kind." She notes that it's about the size of a watch box and isn't overly heavy. She can honestly say she has no idea what could be inside.

"Well are you going to open it?" Angela wonders.

"I think I have more important things to be doing right now," comes the response.

"But maybe it's important?" Daisy chirps suddenly, apparently deciding to join in on the conversation. "It sounded like whoever sent it wanted to make sure that you got this today."

Cam glances up at Angela and Daisy, then shifts her attention to Hodgins, who is also watching from the corner of the lab. Everyone seems quite interested in the package she is holding.

"Don't we have other things to be attending to at the moment, people?" Cam asks, shooting them each a look.

But Angela isn't having any of that, apparently. "We've had a hard week. Throw us a bone here, Cam."

However, she wasn't quite sure it was the best idea. "What if it's dangerous? How do I know it's not some sort of bomb?"

Hodgins' laugh rings out loudly in the lab. "You're starting to sound as paranoid as me," he states, getting up and joining the rest of the women. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

"I couldn't agree more," Daisy adds helpfully.

And because it quickly becomes obvious that no more work is going to get done in the lab until Cam opens this package, she decides that it'd probably be best for everyone involved to get it over with. She rips the tape away from the side of the box and opens the lid, noting the three pairs of eyes watching her intently. But Cam is not quite ready for the sight that greets her.

Inside the box is what appears to be a Christmas ornament. It is an opaque glass ornament in the shape of a dog with a Santa hat, perched on top of a wrapped present. It is simple, but elegant. But most importantly, it's familiar to her already. Cam had an ornament like this as a child, and it was her favourite one. She has absolutely no idea how it ended up here, but she is certain it must be from someone who knew her.

"What is it?" Angela asks eagerly, waiting all of two seconds before demanding to see what's inside.

"A Christmas ornament," she answers carefully, pulling it out of the box and holding it up for everyone to see.

Daisy and Angela immediately swoop in close to examine it more closely, gushing over how cute it is. Cam is unsure what to think, staring into the box she's still holding, when she notices that there's something else at the bottom – a note.

"There's something else here..." Cam mutters, pulling the piece of paper out, and suddenly all eyes are on her once again.

"What does it say?" Hodgins asks curiously, raising a single brow.

Cam scans it quickly first, nearly dropping the box at what she reads. After a moment she responds carefully, "It says, _'Here is a little token of my affection. I hope you enjoy and that your Christmas is bright! From me, an Admirer'_."

The squeal from Angela is both shrill and amusing. "You have a secret admirer, Cam," she gushes merrily. "How romantic!!"

"Or creepy," Cam adds unconvincingly. Though she can't quite hide the small smile that forms on her lips anyway. "Now let's get back to work, all right?"


	2. Day 2

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None

**Word Count**: 1,477

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Here is day #2 :). How fun! Also, I totally stole an idea from one of my own fics, but I'm allowed to do that, right? ;)

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 2**

Cam arrives at work early on Monday morning, far earlier than she usually is, and is surprised to note that she is the first one in the lab. But truthfully, it's kind of a nice feeling. She figures that she'll maybe get a good hour of work in before anyone else shows up. And an hour of uninterrupted time is practically unheard of for Cam these days.

She sits down at her desk and presses the power button on her computer, sifting through the reports that are sitting on her desk while she waits for it to boot up. She notices then that her mail for the day has already arrived, and randomly decides to sort through that as well. Most of it is standard fare – reports and files and other administrative junk that arrives through the interdepartmental mail. But one of the envelopes stands out. It's in a plain white envelope and is addressed to her. There is no return address on it.

Curious, she opens this one first and finds a Christmas card with the following note written inside:

_Thought you might enjoy a warm drink. This place makes the best mint chocolate lattes. Merry Christmas!_

_From me,_

_an Admirer_

And inside the card is a gift certificate from a local, but popular, coffee shop not too far from the Jeffersonian. Cam shakes her head, completely baffled. She figured the ornament was a one-time thing, but suddenly there's something else here for her? Before she even has time to really process this information, there is a soft knock on her open door.

"Good morning Cam," she suddenly hears from the door of her office, and her head shoots up to see who's there. Cam is somewhat surprised to see a smiling Angela standing in the doorway.

"Angela! You're here early," Cam says, trying to carefully lay the card down on top of her desk without the other woman noticing the movement.

Angela simply shrugs. "I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd come in and get a head start on my facial reconstruction. That makes me sound really lame, doesn't it?" she asks with an unimpressed expression.

"Nah. I've been here for a good twenty minutes already. So what does that say about me?" Cam jokes with a half-smile as Angela makes her way further into the office.

"I suppose it just means that we're dedicated to our work?" Angela suggests with a smirk.

They stare at each other for a few moments before Cam finally asks, "Was there something you wanted from me?"

"Oh!" the artist laughs, shaking her head. "Honestly, not really. I just saw that you were here and I thought I'd pop in and say hello before I got down to work. Did you have a nice weekend?"

Cam smiles genuinely at her. "Yeah, I did. I actually convinced Michelle to help me set up all of the Christmas tree and decorations, so that was nice."

Angela's eyes light up suddenly. "Ooh! Did you hang up your brand new Christmas ornament?"

Cam rolls her eyes in an exaggerated manner and considers lying to her co-worker. But the truth of the matter is that she did hang the ornament. Because even though she has no idea who sent it her in the first place, she does know that she loves that ornament. Or at least the identical one she used to own. And that's enough of a reason to hang it on her tree. "I did," she admits, sounding sheepish. Angela, of course, is overjoyed to hear this piece of information.

"I still think that's so romantic," she gushes with a happy sigh.

"And I still think it's creepy. What if it's my 80 year old neighbour from across the street or something? Or some gross old man who works up in human resources?" Cam shoots back with a little smirk.

"Oh, stop being so cynical," Angela chastises.

"What you call cynical, I call practical," comes the retort, and it's enough to stop Angela in her tracks momentarily.

"Scrooge."

Cam bursts out laughing, and soon Angela joins her.

She is about to excuse herself to return to work when Angela suddenly gasps and points at something on her desk. Cam doesn't even need to look to realize what she's found – the card that came in the mail this morning.

"Is that another gift from your secret admirer?" Angela demands excitedly, and Cam fights back a sigh.

"If you must know, then yes. It is."

"What is it?" she asks, and reaches down to grab the card without even waiting for permission from Cam. Angela is fortunate that Cam likes her, because there are few people who could get away with a move like that.

Angela scans the card, making murmured comments to her, then holds out the gift certificate to Cam. "So, are you going to go get the latte?"

"Right now?"

"No time like the present!"

Cam shakes her head and reaches for the gift certificate and card from Angela's proffered hands. "Actually, there are much better times then the present. I was hoping to get some uninterrupted work time in before everyone else shows up." _Which I clearly am not at the moment_, is the underlying implication. This either doesn't sink in for Angela, or she simply doesn't care.

"But you'll be able to work so much better if you have some caffeine in you," Angela argues. "I'll go with you and pick something up myself."

"I don't even know if I'll like the mint chocolate latte," Cam protests, but she can already tell she's losing this battle.

"Well your admirer seems to think you will, so you should give it a chance," Angela points out helpfully.

"It's cold outside and my car will be freezing." It sounds feeble, even to Cam's ears.

Angela laughs outright. "Well I just got here. My car is warm. Come on, Cam. If you're not going to enjoy these gifts from your secret admirer, at least allow me the joy of living vicariously through you. Now let's go."

And so Cam abandons any hope she had of getting any real work done and follows Angela dutifully out of the office.

* * * * *

When they return half an hour later from their excursion, Hodgins and Booth are intently discussing something on the platform. The both look up when she and Angela make their way into the lab.

"Nothing for me?" Booth asks.

"Sorry big guy. Had no idea you were going to be here," Cam informs him playfully, grinning up at the agent.

"Cam received another gift from her secret admirer," Angela announces to the group.

"Really?" Hodgins queries at the same time that Booth says, "You have a secret admirer?"

"Yes to both!" Angela answers for her boss, sounding like she's about to burst with excitement.

"Angela!" Cam cries, shooting her a death glare. Was there nothing sacred?

"So what did he send you this time?" Hodgins asks.

"You shouldn't automatically assume it was from a man, Hodgins."

Now Hodgins is the one to shoot a glare in Angela's direction. He rolls his eyes pointedly at her. "Fine. What did he _or she_ send you this time?"

Angela wisely keeps her mouth shut this time and turns to listen to Cam's answer.

"A gift certificate to buy a free large mint chocolate latte," Cam shares, taking another sip from said drink and moving past them to the other side of the platform. She's actually finding that she really enjoys the drink, and is grateful for the anonymous recommendation. It reminds her of Christmas and _Peppermint Candy_ ice cream and both are a good thing.

"Do you like it?" she hears Booth ask.

"It's great," Cam states with what she hopes is an air of finality, examining data off of Hodgins' computer screen. "Now can we please focus on the case here? Hodgins, I need you to explain to me what this all means here." She gestures to the screen with her free hand, moving her index finger around in circles in front of the monitor.

Hodgins rushes over and immediately begins his explanation. However, in spite of the fact that she is right beside him, and Angela and Booth are on the other side of the lab, Cam still doesn't miss the little exchange between them:

"Don't you find it kind of odd that some anonymous stranger is sending gifts to Cam?"

"Not really, no. I think it's sweet and romantic."

"Yeah, if you're a stalker."

"How do you know the person doesn't know Cam?"

"They could still be a stalker."

"Booth, are you really that ridiculous? Honestly, you're just as bad as she is..."

Cam rolls her eyes and forcefully ignores the pair, deciding then to make a point of purposely avoiding everyone in the lab for the next few days.


	3. Day 3

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None

**Word Count**: 1,067

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Yes, I'm a day late. But sadly life fanfic sometimes :P. Anywho, I'm back and I'll try and catch up the extra day on the weekend! Hope you enjoy :). I finally put some Cam/Hodgins interaction in this one. Also, thank you to those who reviewed last chapter. I haven't had a chance to respond yet, but I will as soon as I can!

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 3**

"So what have you got for me?" Cam asks Hodgins as she wanders into the lab on Tuesday morning. She is equal parts relieved and thankful that no one else is around at the moment. Her previous resolve to avoid everyone else in the lab hadn't exactly worked out all that well yesterday, try as she might. But today was a new day, and she hoped it would involve less mindless chatter and more pointed work. They had a case to solve. Preferably before Christmas so she could actually get away from this place for a few days.

"So you're talking to me again?" Hodgins asks, a tiny smirk on his face.

Cam scrunches up her face in indignation. "What are you talking about? Of course I'm talking to you. Why else would I be standing here waiting to hear if you have results for me?"

Hodgins shrugs. "Just seems like you were trying to ignore everyone yesterday, is all." There is a careful nonchalance to his tone, but she can hear the implication in what he's saying, the slight hint of amused accusation.

"I wasn't ignoring you. I was trying to get work done," she states firmly.

Hodgins looks at her disbelievingly, but seemingly decides to drop it. "Right."

Cam fights an eye roll and instead shoots him what she calls her 'good-natured glare.' "So you said you have updates? Let's hear them."

* * * * *

A couple of hours later, Cam is hiding in her office again. Not because she is a coward. She grew up in a rough neighbourhood where she had no choice but to learn to defend herself. She is hiding because she received a third gift from her 'secret admirer,' and if Angela finds out, the artist will hound her every day from now until the gifts finally stop. And even then, she'll probably still continue to harass her on principle. So instead of acting like the mature, professional she is, Cam instead decides to hide away in the hopes that everyone will simply forget about this whole ridiculous nonsense.

So when someone knocks on her door, Cam silently prays that if she remains quiet and hunches down low in her seat, maybe they'll assume she's not there and leave.

Unfortunately the person at the door isn't big on waiting for permission and steps into her office anyway.

"Dr. Saroyan?" It's Hodgins. She should have known.

"Yes?" she asks.

"Are you hiding in here?" is his first question and she honestly can't help the small laugh that escapes past her lips.

"If I said yes, would you think less of me?"

"Never," he shares with a grin, walking up to her desk. "Though it does have me curious. You avoided us as much as possible yesterday, and now you're hiding out in your office. What gives? This can't have anything to do with your admirer, can it?"

Cam raises a brow. "Have you considered that perhaps I'm just trying to get something done around here, and that I'm not really avoiding anyone at all?" She carefully avoids even acknowledging the secret admirer issue.

But Hodgins only chuckles at her words. "And have you considered that I know you better than that, and I know you're not being entirely truthful with me?"

She feels something warm flutter in her stomach at his words. She'd never really considered them to be that close, even though she quite enjoys Hodgins and spends a great deal of time with him these days. Probably more than with anyone else in the lab, now that she really thinks about it. Hell, she supposes he's even a friend, if one can call their employee a friend. He is one of the first people she talks to (_if Booth isn't around, which he often isn't_) when she needs advice or a perspective on something. And come to think of it, Hodgins confides in her a great deal as well. So of course it makes sense that he knows how her mind works, and when she might possibly be lying. Cam probably knows him just as well as he knows her. There is something significant about the fact that he believes he knows her so well, and she grins in spite of herself.

"Fine," she acquiesces reluctantly, holding up two hands in feigned surrender. "Maybe I am avoiding everyone just a bit."

He takes this as a cue to sit down and makes himself comfortable in the chair directly across from her. "Can I ask why?"

Cam sighs, not even entirely sure if she knows the reason herself. "I'm not sure, to be honest," she begins slowly, thinking as she speaks. "I just don't like to be the center of attention, I guess. And I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole thing, so to have to deal with constant questions and comments from the peanut gallery – mostly Angela – is more frustrating than anything else."

"So you don't like this whole secret admirer thing then?" His voice sounds deliberately guarded, and she's unsure why that is.

Cam shakes her head. "It's not so much that I don't like it. It's more that I don't like not knowing who the gifts are coming from. I don't like being left in the dark."

"I think that's kind of the point though," Hodgins informs her sagely, smiling lightly.

"I know. I'm just not used to having this kind of attention on me. It feels weird," she admits.

"You shouldn't feel weird. You deserve it," Hodgins tells her sincerely, seemingly only noticing what he's said after it's already come out of his mouth. Cam smiles at the compliment and they fall into a companionable silence.

"So, did you get something today?" he asks after a moment.

Cam nods and reaches behind her, grabbing the box and holding it out to him. "Chocolates," she announces. And not the cheap _Pot of Gold_ garbage, but real Swiss chocolate. The good stuff.

"Mmm, real chocolate," Hodgins mumbles approvingly.

Cam removes the cover and offers it to him. "You can have some if you want. But on one condition," she adds as he is about to take a piece.

He pauses, hand hovering just over the chocolate. "What's that?"

There is a slight twinkle in her eyes. "When you leave, don't tell anyone where I am?"

She takes his laughter as a good sign.


	4. Day 4

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None

**Word Count**: 1,108

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Sorry for any errors. This is totally not beta-ed in the least. I hope you enjoy, and thanks again for all the wonderful feedback thus far! :)

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 4**

After the arrival of her fourth gift on Wednesday morning, Cam is quite convinced that whoever this mysterious secret admirer is, he either knows her quite well, or is getting his information from somebody who does. The fourth gift is a bottle of vanilla pear bubble bath from _Bath & Body Works_, which has been her favourite scent for many years, and not that many people are aware of this fact. Cam supposes it could be a coincidence, but somehow suspects that it isn't.

There is only one person in the lab who knows this fact, and she makes a point of finding him and questioning him at the first moment that she is able. It's quite possible that he could know something about this whole business, Cam thinks. Unfortunately it doesn't happen until 3:35 pm, when Booth finally shows up to the lab for the first time that day.

"Booth, I need to talk to you," Cam barks immediately as she corners him in the lab, and everyone turns to stare at her disbelievingly.

"Whoa, calm down there tiger," Booth tells her, raising his hands innocently. But he follows her obediently into her office, much to the intense curiosity of everyone else in the lab. Cam makes a point of closing her door and double checking that no one followed them and are hanging out outside her office.

"So what's going on?" Booth asks after a moment.

Cam simply shoves the bottle of bubble bath at him. "Do you know anything about this?" she demands.

Booth raises a single brow. "Um, it looks like a bottle of bubble bath. I figured that would be pretty obvious, but I guess it can get confusing sometimes," he half-jokes with her, taking the bottle from her hands and inspecting it.

"That's not what I meant," Cam says, rolling her eyes. "Look at the scent." She waits while he does. Booth doesn't seem to register what the big deal is, simply shrugging and looking at her like she's lost her mind.

"Vanilla pear. So what?"

"That's always been my favourite bubble bath," she points out.

Booth looks no more certain of anything then he did before. "I know. What's your point?"

"My point is that my secret admirer sent this to me today. How would he know something like that without being told?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was a lucky guess?" Booth offers, handing the bottle back to Cam and folding his arms across his chest.

She grabs the bottle out of his hands and places it on the desk behind them. "Do you have any idea how many bubble bath options there are out there? There's no way this is a coincidence. Especially not given the other gifts I've already received."

"And this has to do with me how...?" Booth queries, sounding as genuinely confused as Cam herself feels. She tries not to glare at him. After all, if he does know something about who her secret admirer is, making him mad certainly isn't the way to obtain that information.

"I want to know if you have any idea who's behind this secret admirer thing. Or if you're somehow involved." She feels an odd sense of relief at getting the words out, strange as they may sound to her ears.

Booth, however, seems to find the whole thing quite hilarious, as evidenced by the laughter that comes from him. "Are you kidding me? Why on earth would you think I have something to do with this? I didn't even know about it until the second day!" He sounds positively incredulous, but Cam isn't quite ready to fall for this innocent act just yet.

"How do I know you weren't pretending then? Or that you're not lying now?"

He shoots her a _'do-I-really-need-to-explain-this-to-you?'_ look. "What purpose would that serve? Besides, who do we both collectively know that would even think to ask me, of all people, for help with their little secret admirer plan?"

He has a point, she has to concede. But it's still not impossible that he could know who's behind this, if they happened to work at the lab. She decides to point this out to him. "It could be someone who works at the lab," she suggests, as if this had always been her main suspicion.

Booth laughs yet again. "So that narrows it down to Sweets, Hodgins, Wendell, Fisher and Clark, then. And in case you forgot, Wendell and Clark are both in relationships. As is Sweets, whom I would never help in a million years anyway and is barely legal as it is. Fisher is far too self-absorbed and mopey to ever even think about doing something remotely romantic. I wouldn't help him either. And Hodgins is far too clever to need my assistance with anything like this. So I think you're out of luck."

"I don't believe you," Cam tells him simply.

"Well that's too bad, but there's not much I can do about that," Booth replies coolly with a little smirk. "Why are you getting so worked up about this anyway?"

"That's rich coming from you, Mr. Your-admirer-must-be-a-stalker," Cam shoots back, narrowing her eyes at him.

Booth stares at her blankly, blinking twice before shaking his head in amusement. "It's called a joke. Besides, if I had any reason to actually be concerned, I'd have a bomb squad in here 24/7."

Cam doesn't doubt that for a second, but it's still beside the point. "You're the only one here who knows about the bubble bath. And that Christmas ornament. You can't tell me that this is an outside job."

"I have no idea what it is. But I'll tell you one thing," Booth starts.

"What's that?" she asks.

"I'm leaving. I have work to do."

And with that, he turns and heads for the door.

"You're just going to leave me here, suffering like this?" Cam demands, and yes, she knows she's starting to sound a bit like a petulant child now, but she can't help it. Now that she's convinced she knows the person, she needs to know who it is.

Booth apparently doesn't seem to care that much as he continues his journey across her office. "Just enjoy the ride, Camille, and stop trying to control everything," Booth calls out to her just before he saunters out of the door.

Cam is tempted to yell at him to come back and give her the answers she wants, but she knows it won't work. But she is certain of one thing – Booth knows more than he's letting on, and she is not going to stop until she figures this mystery out.


	5. Day 5

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None

**Word Count**: 957

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Un-betaed, like all the rest of the chapters have and will continue to be. Otherwise, I've figured out a more clear direction for the rest of this, so hopefully you all enjoy! Feedback is always welcome and appreciated! :)

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 5**

Cam wakes up on Thursday morning to a hacking cough, sore throat, runny nose and a splitting headache, and she wonders if perhaps she's been bowled over by a semi during the night and somehow forgot about the whole incident upon waking. Still, in spite of this, she gets up and attempts to take a shower anyway, because Camille Saroyan does not miss work unless she's on the brink of death.

She makes it out of the shower (_barely_) before she is hit with a coughing fit so strong that it takes her several minutes to even be able to move off of her bed again. Cam decides then that perhaps this is a good enough reason to stay home for a day, and makes the call to the lab to inform the rest of the team that she won't be in to work today.

Once dressed, Cam manages to drag herself to the kitchen to eat some breakfast. Which ends up consisting of a cup of tea, a banana, and a couple extra strength Tylenols for the headache. By the time Cam makes another thermos of tea to take with her back to her room, she decides that her bed is probably the place to stay for the next several hours.

Cam crawls into the bed, arranging the pillows behind her so she is partially in a seated position, and ensures that everything she needs is right next to her. Cell phone? Check. Television remote? Check. Thermos of tea? Check. Tissues? Check. Cam flicks on the 40' flat screen TV and begins channel surfing, pausing only to sneeze three times in a row before carrying on in her task to find something decent to watch. She quickly remembers, however, why she doesn't like to be stuck at home during the day – there is nothing but game shows, daytime talk shows, and soap operas on at this hour.

Suddenly she has an idea, and moves to switch off the television, instead reaching for a pad of paper and pen from the nightstand. At the top of the paper, she carefully writes Potential Secret Admirers and underlines it twice. Then she proceeds to write down the name of everyone in the lab that could potentially be the mystery person behind these gifts she's been receiving. Turning the page over, Cam then begins to list the people one by one, and putting her thoughts about their possible candidacy under each name.

_Booth_

_- Good friend, but we've already tried the dating thing twice with no success_

_- Probably wouldn't go the "secret admirer" route anyway_

_- Denies knowing anything about it, though might be indirectly involved somehow_

_- Is in love with Dr. Brennan_

No, it definitely isn't Booth, Cam decides. Though she already knew that. Still… it's helpful for her to make lists and actually be able to visually see the reasons that are running through her head. She crosses his name off the original list and moves on to the next person.

_Sweets_

_- Would absolutely do something like this_

_- Dating Daisy and seems to be incredibly in love with her, though God only knows why..._

_- Probably wouldn't be able to hide if it were him_

Cam reads over the list again and decides that Sweets definitely isn't a suspect on her list. She crosses his name off as well, and moves onto the next candidate.

_Fisher_

_- Single, and apparently looking for someone_

_- Has never indicated any interest_

_- Very much does not seem like the kind of person to do something like this_

_- Still, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility_

Cam scrunches her nose up at the thought, but reluctantly leaves his name on her list. A moment later she sneezes and is then wracked with another heavy coughing fit that nearly has her gagging. She suspects that her body might be physically rejecting the idea that Fisher could be her secret admirer, but she knows she can't remove him from the list. At least not yet. So instead she decides to move on.

_Hodgins_

_- Single and seemingly looking for a relationship_

_- May still be in love with Angela_

_- A friend whom I spend a great deal of time with these days_

_- Could possibly do something like this_

_- Hasn't shown any real interest, but not impossible_

Cam reads over those points one more time and concludes that Hodgins is also a real possibility, if it is someone at the lab. And unlike with Fisher, the thought of it potentially being Hodgins isn't a horrible one. In fact, it makes her feel a little bit warmer inside. But it's far too early to start drawing any conclusions yet, and so she leaves his name on the list and decides to focus on the next name she has written down.

_Clark_

_- In a relationship with someone, as far as I know_

_- Would probably find the idea of a secret admirer completely lame_

_- Hasn't ever indicated any interest_

_- He's all about getting down to business, so this beating around the bush thing would be quite out of character_

So it's also unlikely that Clark could be the one behind the whole thing. As a result, she strikes his name from the list. Which leaves her with two real possibilities from the lab – Fisher and Hodgins. Of course, there are several other individuals in Cam's life that could also be put in the running and she knows that there are still more people to consider. Except at the moment Cam would prefer to have a nap. So she does just that, her last thoughts before drifting to sleep of one particular dark-haired entomologist.


	6. Day 6

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: Slight for season 5.

**Word Count**: 1,838

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Longest chapter yet, woo! That was not what I'd planned, but oh well. At least I had the time to write this chapter out the way I wanted to. Thanks so much to everyone for all the encouragement and kind comments thus far. I'm really enjoying writing this fic! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :) Tomorrow I have a busy day, though, so I may not get the next chapter out until later in the evening.

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 6**

Cam wakes up on Friday morning feeling even worse than the day before, if that were even possible. She feels so stuffed up that it's almost difficult to breathe. The sore throat, cough and runny nose are still there as well, except this time there is the added joy of an aching body. She is thoroughly unimpressed, to say the least. Cam is quite sure the last time she missed two consecutive days of work was back after she'd first started working at the Jeffersonian and had nearly died after being poisoned. And previous to that unfortunate incident, Cam hasn't missed two consecutive days in several years.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, she supposes.

Cam drags herself out of bed and forces her body to move to the kitchen. There she makes more tea and forces a small bowl of porridge down her dry, pained throat. After a hot bath, Cam collapses back into bed and sleeps most of the rest of the morning away.

When she wakes again, she feels slightly more mentally alert, though physically there isn't much improvement. For lack of anything better to do, Cam decides to give her list one last look-over before working out a plan to narrow down the suspects. Yesterday she had refined the list to include a few more individuals she'd forgotten the first time around. Wendell had been added, but eventually crossed out, as Cam decided that his commitment to Angela was stronger than any interest he had shown in her thus far. Cam also added Vincent Nigel-Murray, but was unable to remove his name from the list for many of the same reasons she kept Fisher and Hodgins on it. She was also forced to add two security guards (Randy and a guy named Chuck), someone from Human Resources, and a guy she had dated for several months last year to the final list. Thankfully, she is able to eliminate Randy and the HR guy. So the current count is up to five possibilities in total.

Looking over the names that remain, Cam realizes that there are only two people on it that she might ever remotely be interested in. One, really, if she's being entirely honest with herself. But that would open up a whole can of worms that she's not sure she'd be able to deal with. Still, it wasn't as if they couldn't make something like that work, if they really wanted to. She knows he is the fighting type, and Cam is not one to give up either. But she decides then that she's being presumptuous, drawing wild conclusions based on no real evidence, and makes the conscious choice to stop dwelling on the subject for the moment.

Which seems appropriate, when she hears the doorbell ring.

Cam wonders who in the hell would be at her place at 2:00 pm on a Friday and really doesn't want to go answer the door looking the way she currently does – dirty, gross and sickly. She waits a few moments, hoping that they'll just go away. But the doorbell rings a second time then, and Cam figures they must know she's home. However, seeing as how she doesn't have a maid and the person outside her door seems to be quite content with waiting for her to answer, she finally gets up, wrapping a housecoat around her suddenly frozen body and padding down to the front door.

Cam pulls the door open to reveal a smiling Hodgins, carrying several bags and looking extremely sympathetic.

She's not quite sure what to say, so she goes with the obvious. "Hodgins. What are you doing here?"

He shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, casting his gaze towards the ground briefly. "Well, everyone was worried about you. Angela, Sweets, Wendell and I were talking and we decided that maybe somebody should stop by with some soup and make sure you're still alive." He shifts again but this time meets her gaze. "Plus, Angela insisted that you needed to see your secret admirer gifts before next week." He raises one arm and shakes the bags that are attached to it, almost as evidence of their existence.

There's so much there, but at the moment Cam's cognitive functioning is running on low and she is only able to process the very last thing he says. "How would you know, unless you've been going through my mail?" Cam asks, though there isn't much accusation in her tone.

"It's pretty obvious," he shares with her. "And Angela may have loosely rummaged through your stuff. But only for the packages."

Cam nods, not really having the energy to even be upset about it. Besides, she kind of has to admit that she's a tiny bit curious about what her secret admirer left her over the past couple of days. It occurs to her then that Hodgins is still standing outside in the cold, and that she's exposing her sick self to even more potential germs and sickness, so she steps back and invites him in.

He removes his shoes and makes his way towards the kitchen. She trails behind him curiously and watches as he places all of the bags onto her kitchen table. Turning to her, Hodgins smiles shyly. "I'll get the soup ready for you. It's chicken noodle – the perfect cure for a common cold."

"You don't have to do that," Cam immediately insists, feeling bad about the fact that Hodgins wants to serve her, though not really sure why that is. "I can make it."

But Hodgins shakes his head firmly. "No way. You're sick. That's against the rules."

Cam is about to protest a second time when she sneezes – four consecutive times in a row, which happens to be a new record – and thinks that maybe it's okay to let him do this for her. She takes a seat at the kitchen table and just watches him as he fumbles around her kitchen, trying to find what he needs.

"So how did you get stuck with this detail?" she asks him after a few moments.

Hodgins glances over in her direction and smirks. "I wasn't stuck with it. I volunteered." Cam can't quite stop that feeling of warmth that spreads through her again and she smiles in spite of herself. "Of course, Angela and Wendell were heading out on a date and Sweets had a session to get to," he adds a moment later, and she feels her heart sink just a tiny bit. "But I didn't know that when I volunteered, so I think that still counts." The warmth immediately returns and she grins openly at him.

"Well thank you," she tells him sincerely. "I appreciate that. And I apologize for the state of my home, as well as the state I'm in. I haven't even looked in a mirror since yesterday." Cam has no idea why she just allowed those words to leave her mouth and would instantly like to take them back, except that it's too late for that.

But Hodgins seems nonplussed by her comment. "You're sick. No one expects you to look like you're heading out for a night on the town. Besides, you should see how awful I look when I'm sick. I've been known to scare small children."

Cam chuckles loudly and shakes her head at him. "I doubt that," she tells him, still laughing.

"You think I kid, but Jack Hodgins does not lie about these kinds of things," he retorts. "Now stop worrying and eat your soup," he orders, setting a bowl down in front of her. She has to admit that it smells delicious – which is a feat in and of itself, considering how stuffed up her nose is at the moment – and Cam never realized how hungry she was until she takes her first bite.

He grabs a bowl for himself and they eat a late lunch together, chatting companionably. Cam feels so much better getting a bit of warm food into her body and she is exceptionally grateful to whoever came up with the original idea to bring her soup. Sometime later, after Hodgins has cleaned up and she's retired to the couch, he brings her two secret admirer gifts out to her.

"Here, you need to open these before I go," he tells her, placing the bag in front of her and perching on the end of the couch.

Cam smiles and opens the box dated for yesterday. It ends up being a movie. But not just any movie – it is one of her favourite movies from childhood. She used to own it, but a couple of years ago she lent it to a friend who accidentally lost it, and Cam has never gotten around to purchasing another copy.

"What is it?" she hears Hodgins ask curiously.

"The Sound of Music," Cam tells him, beaming. She knows it's silly to get this excited over a movie, but she's seen this film probably a good twenty times in her lifetime and has yet to get sick of it.

"You seem happy," Hodgins remarks, smiling warmly at her.

"I am," Cam admits to him with a nod.

He pauses momentarily before asking, "So maybe this whole admirer thing isn't so awful after all?"

Cam meets his gaze, and she's not sure if it's her cold, her overactive imagination, or the fact that she's really tired, but she gets the distinct sense that he's waiting for some specific answer from her on this one.

So she goes with what her gut is telling her. "No, I guess it's not so bad."

Hodgins smiles again and hands her the second package, this one smaller and thinner than the last one. It ends up being a burnt CD. It doesn't say what music is on there but Cam is starting to think that it's probably something she's going to end up liking. Hodgins offers to put it on for her, and she agrees. It ends up consisting of various Christmas songs – some old classics and others, newer, more modern remakes. They sit in silence for several songs, enjoying the sound of the music filling her place before Cam notices that she's starting to drift off to sleep.

"I guess I'd better get going," Hodgins tells her softly, getting up from the couch. Cam wants to protest, but she also knows that she's not going to be able to stay awake for much longer.

"Thanks for coming by," Cam mutters groggily. "I appreciate everything you did for me today."

"It was my pleasure," Hodgins tells her, reaching down to squeeze her upper arm gently. "Now you get to sleep and feel better, okay? I'll let myself out."

He is almost to the door when he stops and turns back to her. "Feel free to give me a call on the weekend if you need anything," he adds with a smile, and then is gone.

Cam falls asleep to thoughts of Hodgins for the second time in two days.


	7. Day 7

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None.

**Word Count**: 961

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: All right – so I'm breaking day 7 into two parts due to length and due to the fact that I'm now behind 2 days and I need to catch up ASAP! And I may or may not skip Sunday. But we'll see where it goes. I'll probably still call it "day 8" though. Anywho, I hope everyone enjoys and thanks for reading, as always!

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 7**

Saturday morning starts off better for Cam than she'd anticipated. She still feels like crap, that's for sure, but her head is slightly less foggy and she feels more mentally on the ball. And hungry, which she hasn't really been for the last couple of days. So after another warm bath (in which she soaks and listens to her new Christmas album), Cam manages to make it to the kitchen in search of something to eat. Which would have proved fruitful, except for the small detail that Cam had pretty much run out of groceries a few days ago. She had been planning on going grocery shopping on Thursday, but then the cold hit her and all thoughts of shopping left her mind.

But Cam supposes it isn't the worst thing in the world to have to go out for an hour and pick up some groceries, even if she'd much rather remain in bed or curled up on her living room couch. So she bundles up in multiple layers of clothing, makes sure to throw a couple extra packages of tissue into her purse (and one into her jacket pocket for good measure), and prepares to face the cold.

The first thing she notices upon leaving her condo is that it's not quite as cold as she'd expected. Checking the weather before leaving might have been a nice idea, she reflects idly to herself, but it's too late for that now. Besides, she figures it's better to be over-dressed then under-dressed when sick. The second thing she notices is that it has snowed in the last couple of days, and definitely overnight, if the fresh layer of snow on her walkway is any indication. But it looks as if the maintenance people haven't come by to shovel and sand the path yet. Cam makes a mental note to herself to be extra careful.

Cam shuffles along slowly, but unfortunately the thing she doesn't notice is the patch of black ice underneath the fresh coat of snow. And without any warning, her feet go sliding out from underneath her body, and she finds herself in a pathetic heap on the ground, her right foot twisted awkwardly behind her.

Cam lets out a string of curses before attempting to stand up again. Except that she's really in a lot of pain, and after three attempts at getting up, she decides that it's probably not going to happen.

Thankfully, one of her neighbours notices her and helps her back into the house. "You should probably get that looked at," Mrs. Lawson informs her once Cam is situated on the couch, foot elevated on a pillow on her coffee table. "I'd take you myself, but my husband is out with our car. Do you have anyone you can call?"

"Yeah, I think I should be fine," Cam assures her neighbour. And once Mrs. Lawson has wrapped Cam's foot in ice, she heads out, promising to check up on her later. Cam sighs and wonders if things could possibly get even worse. So much to the pleasant start to her morning.

The first person she calls is Felicia. But her sister, unsurprisingly, isn't home. Cam sighs and hangs up, figuring she'll have to go to Plan B.

The next person she calls is Booth, and is pleasantly surprised when he answers. "Hey Booth, are you busy right now?" she asks hopefully.

"I just picked up Parker and we're heading in to see a movie," he tells her. "What's up? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Cam lies, shifting uncomfortably and trying not to make any pained noises. "I was just wondering if you were free to help me out with something. But you're with Parker, so don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? Because if it's something important, we can just see the next movie instead," Booth offers, and she knows he's being genuine. But Cam is not going to ruin his time with Parker just because she doesn't know how to walk properly.

"No, that's okay. You and Parker have fun. I'll talk to you on Monday."

Cam hangs up the phone and sits on the couch thinking for a few minutes about who to call next. She adamantly ignores the voice inside her head telling her to phone Hodgins, because she doesn't want to burden him again (and she doesn't want to give him the wrong impression). But after several more phone calls that lead to several more dead ends – and another several minutes of pain – Cam finally breaks down and dials Hodgins' phone number.

She lets it ring several times. But after the fourth ring she assumes that he probably isn't there either and is about to hang up when she hears a rushed, "Hello?"

"Hodgins?" Cam asks dumbly. Of _course_ it's him.

"Cam?"

"Yeah, it's me." She stops, not quite sure how to ask him to do such a huge favour for her.

"Are you okay? Is something going on?" he immediately wonders, concern etched into his tone of voice.

"No, I'm fine," she starts, then shakes her head. "Well, I guess not really..."

"What happened?"

This is kind of embarrassing to admit, Cam realizes. "Uh... well, I sort of fell. On my walkway this morning when I was going out to get groceries. And I might have sprained my ankle..." She leaves the rest unsaid and hopes that he'll understand what she needs from him. Thankfully he does.

"Do you need to go to the hospital or something?" he asks, still sounding as concerned as before.

"It pains me to say so, but yes. I'd drive myself except that it's my right foot, so..."

There is no hesitation in his voice when she hears him say, "I'll be right over."


	8. Day 8

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None.

**Word Count**: 1,280

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Hehe! I'm laughing at the fact that this chapter is entitled "Day 8." You will find out why I find that funny after you read! Anyway, thanks as always for everyone's support. I'm so thrilled that you guys are enjoying this.

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 8**

**Day 7 (continued)**

It only takes Hodgins thirty minutes to arrive at Cam's place, which she finds mildly impressive, considering he lives a good distance from her.

"Anyone home?" Hodgins calls as he gently pushes open her unlocked door and tentatively steps inside.

"Come in," Cam instructs him from the couch, where she hasn't moved since Mrs. Lawson helped her hobble back into the condo.

Hodgins makes his way over to Cam and carefully sits down on the edge of the sofa.

"This is the ankle that you injured?" he asks, pointing to the leg still propped up on the coffee table.

Cam nods. "Yeah. I'm having a lot of luck these days, it would seem," she mutters sardonically.

"Mind if I take a look?" Hodgins asks as he reaches down and gently removes the ice pack from around her ankle. She nods at him, almost imperceptibly, but he seems to catch it and proceeds to carefully roll her sock down her ankle. Cam is suddenly irrationally grateful that she shaved this morning.

Hodgins lowers her sock far enough that he can see the ankle. Cam does her absolute best not to squirm and cry out in pain, and he hasn't even actually touched her yet, but he still seems to notice her discomfort.

"You okay?" He questions softly, moving his gaze from her face to her ankle and back to her face again.

"Yeah, I'm all right. Just hurry?" And she smiles for good measure, in an attempt to reassure him. They both take a look at her ankle then and Cam is surprised to see how swollen it has become. Swollen and purple, and she thinks that it probably should not look that bad.

Several minutes later, Cam is practically draped over Hodgins as they make their way outside to his car. As they drive away from her home, she makes a mental note to herself to give him an extra day off of work sometime in the near future.

* * * * *

After a five hour wait in the emergency room (in which two children threw up on the floor, a man came in with a gunshot wound to his shoulder, and three suspected cases of H1N1 victims coughed in her personal space), she receives her diagnosis – a sprained ankle. Which means that she doesn't need a cast, but will need to heavily ice it and keep the weight off of that foot for several days. Cam is also informed that she may need to go see a physiotherapist once it's starting to heal, in order to maintain her ankle range of motion. She supposes it could have been worse, but this isn't exactly her idea of a thrilling way to head into the holiday season.

They pick up a pair of crutches on the way back to Cam's place.

"Thank you so much Hodgins. I owe you big time," she tells him gratefully, after they make it back inside and Cam is icing her leg once again.

"Is there anything else you need?" Hodgins asks from his spot beside her on the couch.

She suddenly realizes that she's starving. That food she was leaving the house to purchase in the first place still hadn't been bought. But Cam was absolutely not going to ask Hodgins for another favour. So instead, she lies. "No, I'm good. Thanks again for coming to my rescue. I really appreciate it."

While Cam has always been quite the pro when it comes to lying, her stomach chooses that exact moment to betray her, and a loud, horribly audible rumble erupts from her belly.

Hodgins laughs softly. "Sounds like your stomach would disagree with you." He pauses thoughtfully. "I'll make you something to eat." And he is standing and heading towards the kitchen before she can even protest.

"I don't have any food though, remember?" Cam calls after him. Hodgins stops dead in his tracks and turns back to stare at her.

"Well, then I guess we'll just have to order some pizza!" he decides cheerfully. "What kind do you like?"

* * * * *

An hour after they've finished stuffing their faces with as much pizza as they can handle, Hodgins is still there, lounging on the recliner sitting to the left of her coffee table. They've done nothing but talk about nothing and everything since even before the pizza arrived, and Cam can't help but wonder why on earth they haven't done this before. She decides that she was very wrong a few days ago when she believed that she didn't really consider Hodgins to be a friend. That is no longer true. Cam's always enjoyed Hodgins, even back when he first called her a "wank tard." She knew he was a man of strong character and conviction, and she's always respected him for those qualities. But not only that; he is also incredibly easy to talk to, and a good conversationalist in general. Cam finds there are so few men out there who simply enjoy a good conversation, and Hodgins happens to be one of them. Selfishly, she hopes that he sticks around longer, because if she's being honest with herself – she simply doesn't want him to leave.

However, the time comes when he makes to clean up the pizza boxes, and Cam knows that he'll be going home soon.

"Well, I guess I'd better get going. I don't want to take up any more of your time," Hodgins tells her once the living room has been cleaned up. Cam can't be entirely sure, but she thinks she hears a hint of regret in his words, and feels a little thrill at the thought that he might want to stick around here as much as she wants him to.

Still, Cam knows that she can't ask him to stay. He's already done more than enough for her, and probably has important things to be doing.

"I don't think I can thank you enough, Hodgins. With Michelle away at a friend's winter cabin for the last few days, it's been a little difficult. You've been a lifesaver." And she really and truly does appreciate everything that he's done.

Hodgins smiles fondly at her and nods. "It was no problem at all. Seriously."

He stands, rubbing his hands on his pants as he does, and turns to face her. "Take care. And let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

Cam smiles and nods and assures him that she will, even when she knows that she won't. Michelle will be back tomorrow and she'll have no need to continue to call on him. The thought makes her feel just a little disappointed. But she sees him off all the same. And in spite of being sick and injured, Cam is quite sure this has been one of the better days she's had in quite some time.

**Day 8**

Michelle returns home just past noon on Sunday, and if Cam's greeting to her is slightly less than overly enthusiastic, she definitely blames it on the cold and her ankle, and not on anything else. Especially not on the fact that she no longer has an excuse to call a certain dark-haired entomologist.

Michelle goes out and does the grocery shopping for Cam, though, and she's incredibly grateful for that. She ate an almost expired cup of yogurt for breakfast this morning, and though it tasted fine, it didn't do much to satisfy her hunger pangs. She'd finished the pizza yesterday evening.

Cam spends the rest of her day relaxing with Michelle. But she can't help but wish that Hodgins was there with them, and it's starting to worry her just a little bit.


	9. Day 9

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None.

**Word Count**: 1,259

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: This took me way too long to write, but I think it's a fun chapter. I'm seriously overwhelmed by all the support from everyone! I'm so thrilled that you're all enjoying this so much. I'm almost sad that it'll be done after three more chapters *wipes away tears* Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 9**

At promptly 7:15 am on Monday morning Cam hears her cell phone go off, indicating that she has a new text message. Reaching for her crutches, she manages to exit the bathroom and manoeuvre across the room to the nightstand beside her bed.

She picks up her phone and opens up the message: _how r u getting to work? -H_

Hodgins. She smiles, sitting on the edge of her bed and texts him back: _was going 2 call a cab_

A couple minutes pass until her phone beeps again: _waste of money. i'm in ur area. b there in 10._

Cam considers protesting, but she knows that it won't do any good. Besides, she doesn't really want to fight him on it; she is happy to have Hodgins pick her up for work. Sure beats the hell out of paying $20 for a cab. Though she can't help but wonder what on earth he could have been doing in her neck of the woods at 7:00 am on a Monday morning.

She texts back: _ok thnx. c u then._ and proceeds to the kitchen to grab an oatmeal bar, a banana and her coffee before Hodgins arrives. Cam is grateful that she'd woken up at an unholy hour this morning to begin getting ready for work. Having a completely useless foot was incredibly inconvenient, she was beginning to discover, and it had taken her almost twice as long to get ready as it usually does.

There is a knock on her front door almost exactly 10 minutes after Hodgins' last text, and Cam makes her way over to answer it.

"Ready for work?" he asks with a little smirk, and Cam has no idea how he can be so cheerful this early on a Monday morning. It seems both very much like Hodgins and also very much unlike him at the same time.

She shrugs and manages to pull on her jacket without falling over. "I'm overjoyed," she deadpans, rolling her eyes. But there is a smile in her voice that he seems to hear.

"You sound better," he notes as they slowly make their way out to his car.

"Well, I can actually almost breathe properly again, so I consider that progress," she tells him. A moment later they reach the passenger door and with Hodgins' help, she's able to get into the car with little difficulty. He tosses her crutches in the back seat and pulls away from the curb.

* * * * *

"Oh my goodness, what happened, Cam?" Angela is the first person they run (well, _hobble_) into at the lab, and she looks absolutely shocked.

"I had a fight with the ice on my sidewalk," Cam tells her with a mischievous smirk.

Angela smiles in return. "I guess the sidewalk won, huh?"

Both Cam and Hodgins laugh at that, and Angela seems to notice him for the first time. He's actually holding onto Cam's briefcase and purse, so there is absolutely no doubt that they came into the lab together. Angela glances between them briefly, shooting Hodgins an indecipherable look, before returning her attention to Cam once again.

"I'd ask how you're feeling, but I assume it can't be that great considering your current condition," Angela says sympathetically.

"It's not so bad, actually. I've dealt with worse." She shrugs nonchalantly, as if it's no big deal. "I should go put my stuff in the office before I come up to the lab though. I'll be back shortly."

And Cam heads off with Hodgins in tow. If he exchanges any sort of look with Angela, Cam doesn't see it.

* * * * *

She's barely made it back to her office before Booth and Brennan come charging in.

"So, Cam, here's the latest..." Booth starts, but stops dead in his tracks upon seeing her. "What the hell happened to you?" he finishes in shock, tone sounding far more concerned than his words would imply.

"You look awful," Brennan adds helpfully.

"Thanks," Cam mutters sarcastically.

"That wasn't a compliment," she clarifies.

Cam glances at Booth and then at Hodgins, who is fighting back a grin, and decides it's not worth getting in to at the moment. "I know."

To Booth she says, "I just fell on some ice. Sprained my ankle, but it's nothing much to worry about."

"Oh. Well that's unfortunate." And then, "Wait... is that why you called me on Saturday?"

Cam shrugs. "It's no big deal. You were with Parker."

"Yeah, but I would have helped you if I knew _that_ was why you'd called in the first place." He sounds positively incredulous. Cam tries not to roll her eyes.

"It's fine, Booth. Hodgins took me to the hospital." And before he can get another word in edgewise, she adds, "Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

* * * * *

The rest of the morning passes by uneventfully. It isn't until lunch time that Cam realizes she hasn't received anything from her secret admirer today, and she's not sure if she is relieved or disappointed by this fact. Even though she's done nothing to further eliminate people from her list of "suspects," Cam kind of believes she knows who it is. Or at least she hopes she knows who it is.

She is in the middle of contemplating this idea when she hears a knock on her office door.

"Hey," Hodgins says as a way of greeting her, strolling into the office before she's even given him permission to enter. Cam finds that she doesn't really care all that much.

"What's up?" she asks him, making to stand.

"I was just thinking you might want some lunch. Are you interested?"

Cam feels something like joy spread through her body, but she does her best to maintain her cool. "Yeah, that sounds good," she says casually, smiling in spite of her best efforts.

His matching grin is equally as wide, and Cam feels lighter then she has in days, in spite of her current predicament.

* * * * *

When Cam returns for lunch she is met with a somewhat puzzling sight. There is someone coming out of her office. Someone who has no logical reason to be there in the first place.

"Mr. Fisher?" Cam queries, confused. She has no idea what he's doing coming out of her office, but he looks slightly suspicious.

"Oh, uh, I just stopped by to drop off a report," he mumbles monotonously. "It's on your desk."

"And this couldn't have waited until after lunch?" she asks, brows raised high on her forehead.

He simply shrugs. "I've learned that life is short and essentially pointless. We don't have much time, so there isn't much sense in wasting the few meaningless moments we do have."

And then without another word he saunters away again, leaving Cam to stare at his retreating form in confusion.

She shakes her head to clear the memory and enters her office, immediately heading for her desk to find that report. She's been waiting for it since late last week and is curious to see what the results will show. But something else catches her eye first. Something sitting on top of the report. It is another box. But it doesn't appear to have been sent through the mail. However, there is no mistaking the handwriting on the front – it's from her secret admirer. Who had to have just hand delivered it to her office.

Fisher... Fisher?!

She suddenly has the strong urge to sit down.


	10. Day 10

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None.

**Word Count**: 1,148

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Okay, we're in the home stretch, people! Almost there! I am so completely grateful to everyone who's supported this story. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and I'm thrilled you've enjoyed this fic as much as I've enjoyed writing it! I hope the last few chapters are satisfying to you too. Enjoy! :)

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 10**

Monday night is not an enjoyable evening for Cam. She spends the entire evening replaying the last few days over and over again in her mind, trying to figure out if she'd misread something along the way. She'd felt a spark – a connection – between herself and Hodgins. She knew she hadn't imagined that much. But perhaps his interest in her has been strictly friendship, as he'd claimed only a few short days ago. It felt like so much time had passed already though. Cam, until very recently, was also certain that Hodgins had been her secret admirer, and so she's trying to process what Fisher could have been doing in her office with the admirer's gift.

Her thoughts spin around in circles all night and the only conclusion she can reach is that either Fisher really is her admirer, or he was delivering the package on behalf of her secret admirer. But why him of all people, and why now?

The answers don't become any clearer in the morning when Hodgins texts Cam to tell her that he has a flat tire and won't be able to pick her up for work. Cam decides to wake up Michelle and force her to drive her to the office. Michelle is less than thrilled, but she agrees anyway.

Cam arrives at the office to find the package still sitting on her desk. She didn't have the heart to open it yesterday, and she's not sure if she will today either. Instead, Cam throws all her energy into focusing on her job and the case.

* * * * *

"You seem lost," Angela remarks later on that morning. They are the only two people in the lab at the moment, as everyone else is gathering evidence or interviewing suspects. No one wants to be stuck solving a murder on Christmas day.

"I wouldn't say lost. More like confused," Cam admits, and it's seemingly all the information Angela needs to peak her interest.

"Ooh, what's going on?"

Cam tries not to laugh at how positively curious Angela sounds. She decides to take a seat, if they're going to be chatting for a while, which – knowing Angela – is a distinct possibility. She doesn't particularly want to have to try and remain standing while holding onto her crutches.

"Well," she begins once seated, trying to figure out how to say what she wants to say while remaining as vague as possible. "Something happened yesterday afternoon that was a direct contradiction to something else I was almost certain of. And now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if there was any real evidence for me to believe what I did in the first place. Does that make any sense?"

Angela sits across from her and seems to ponder Cam's words before speaking. "I'm not sure," she admits, then adds, "Does this have anything to do with your secret admirer?"

"Mmmm, yeah," she says after a moment.

"Okay, so wait – are you telling me that you think you know who your admirer is?" Angela seems beyond delighted, if her broad grin is any indication.

Cam lets out a somewhat frustrated sigh. "Not exactly. I'm telling you that I thought I knew but then something happened that made me think that maybe I was wrong in the first place."

"Really? Well who is it?"

"I don't know."

Angela rolls her eyes in an exaggerated manner. "I know that. I just meant, who do you think it is now? Or who did you think it was in the first place?"

Cam tries not to blush, thinking about Hodgins, and instead decides to answer the other question asked of her. "Well, I saw someone leave my office after lunch yesterday, and when I got inside, I found a hand delivered box from my secret admirer."

Angela leans forward to rest her elbows on her thighs, eyes lighting up in anticipation. "So? Who was it?"

Cam hesitates, not really wanting to tell her. But she knows that Angela won't let it drop until she learns the truth and decides she might as well get it over with. "Well… I saw… It was Fisher."

Angela practically flies out of her chair in shock. "_Fisher_?! No way! _No way_!"

Cam smiles tightly. "That was pretty much my reaction, too."

But Angela apparently isn't finished. "There is no way that it's Fisher. That's just… That's completely impossible and I refuse to believe it. You really think it was Fisher? Because I sure don't. Does he seem like the romantic kind of guy to you, Cam?" She's actually up and pacing back and forth a bit, agitation written across all of her features. It's almost endearing, in an odd sort of way.

"Well, no," Cam concedes, "but I'm not sure what else to think. I most definitely saw him leaving my office and that package was not there when I left for lunch."

"Maybe he was delivering it on behalf of your secret admirer?" Angela suggests, stopping to face Cam and folding her arms across her chest thoughtfully.

"I considered that, and I suppose it's still possible…" There is an obvious _but_ in that sentence that she purposely omits. Angela hears it anyway.

"I don't think it's Fisher. But you should find out one way or the other. For your own peace of mind."

A single brow shoots up on her forehead. "And how do I do that?" Cam asks questioningly.

Angela shrugs as if it's the simplest solution in the world. "You need to talk to him and find out if he's the one."

That absolutely does not sound like a good idea, and she decides to share that with Angela.

"But why not?" Angela protests. "You ask him, he says 'no', and then you know and don't have to worry any longer."

"And what do I do if he happens to say 'yes'?" Cam demands, because even though she knows Angela is probably right, there is still the slight possibility that it actually _is_ him.

"He's not going to say 'yes'. I've never been so certain of anything in my life," Angela tells her earnestly. "Find Fisher and talk to him. It'll put your mind at ease."

Cam opens her mouth to protest, but then shuts it again. There is no arguing with Angela when she's in her determined mode.

"I'll think about it," she shares, making to stand up and head back to her office again.

However, before she is entirely off the platform, Angela suddenly seems struck with a thought. "Hey, Cam?"

"Yeah?"

"Who did you think your admirer was? Until you saw Fisher leaving your office, I mean?"

Cam averts her eyes momentarily, fighting the blush she knows is spreading across her face "I'd rather not say," is all she says, and then hobbles away on her crutches, in spite of Angela's questioning voice calling out after her.


	11. Day 11

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None.

**Word Count**: 2,073

**Disclaimer**: Last I checked, no. But let me tell you, if I had my way with the show, things would be vastly different!

**Author's note**: Egads! One more chapter after this one. I can hardly believe it. Now the real test will be whether or not I have time to write the last one before Christmas, now won't it? ;) (Kidding, kidding…it'll be up tomorrow, don't worry!) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. The first part will consist of day ten still, and then move onto day eleven.

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 11**

**Day 10 (continued)**

Thankfully Cam doesn't have too long to wait before her next encounter with Fisher. She spends a good chunk of time contemplating Angela's words once she is back in her office and finally decides that the artist was probably correct. She needs to know if it is Fisher who's behind all this secret admirer stuff, though admittedly she has yet to decide what she's going to do if it turns out that he actually _is_ the one. Cam has already almost convinced herself that it couldn't be him, but there is a small part of her that still worries about the possibility.

As luck would have it, she runs into him towards the end of the day when he is dropping off another report for her.

"Fisher, I need to talk to you," Cam tells him as soon as the new report is in her hands.

"Sure," he agrees monotonously. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

She shifts on her feet, feeling awkward and uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Well, I… I was wondering what you were doing in my office yesterday."

Fisher stares blankly at Cam for a moment before responding. "I thought we already had this conversation yesterday. I was dropping off a report for you."

Cam nods, watching him intently. "Yes, I know. But what I wanted to know was if there was any _other_ reason why you were there? Or anything else you were dropping off for me besides the report?"

She holds her breath and waits for his answer, searching his expression for anything that might give away his reaction to her line of questioning, but she doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Yeah. I left a box on your desk," he responds, sounding particularly disinterested.

Cam tries not to let her surprise at his admission show too strongly on her face. She's not quite sure that she succeeds. "You left it there?" she repeats.

"Yes." Fisher just looks perplexed.

Cam asks the question she really doesn't want to know the answer to. "So it was from you…?"

Fisher blinks a couple of times and then laughs dryly. "No. I was asked to deliver it to you. I have no idea what it was."

"Someone asked you to deliver that package?" she demands, eyes widening as she takes a step instinctively towards him. "Who was it?"

"I don't know his name," Fisher responds with a shrug of his shoulders. "One of the security guys, I think."

"What does he look like?" Cam asks, and she knows she's sounding just a tad desperate, but he doesn't seem to be paying her much attention. "Tall and skinny? Short and plump? Muscular with really red hair?"

Fisher seems to contemplate this for a few painfully long moments. "He was shorter. Definitely didn't have red hair. I think it was a light brown or something. And he was a bit on the heavier side."

"Chuck? Was his name Chuck?"

Fisher shrugs. "Sounds vaguely familiar yeah. It was probably Chuck."

Cam could hug him right now, she really could. "Thank you for clearing that up for me," she says enthusiastically.

"I had a dog named Chuck once. He died when I was ten in a horrible boating accident. Redefined my life…" Fisher mutters absently to himself, but Cam is already hurrying away from him and back to her office.

* * * * *

Cam considers hunting down Chuck on her own. But then she remembers that he's all the way at the front of the Jeffersonian and it could literally take her a good ten minutes to actually find him with the fact that she's still using crutches and is not supposed to be bearing any weight on her foot just yet.

But thankfully, Cam is a resourceful woman. She picks up her cell phone and dials Booth's number.

He answers on the third ring. "Booth."

"Hey Booth, it's me," she says as way of greeting. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the lab. I just got here. Why? Where are you?"

She smiles into the phone, in spite of the fact that she knows he can't see her. "In my office."

"You couldn't have just walked down the hall?" comes his slightly amused retort.

"Remember the crutches? Yeah, well, it's easier to just call you."

Booth laughs through the phone. "I guess you've got a point," he acquiesces. "I assume there was something you wanted though?" he adds after a moment.

"Yes, actually." Cam isn't quite sure how to ask the question without sounding ridiculous, so she just jumps right in. "I was wondering if you could do me a favour."

"What is it?"

She takes that as a good sign. "I need you to go find Chuck Reimer and grill him for information."

"Cam, what?!" Booth cries out, and she can practically hear him rolling his eyes.

She presses on anyway. "Okay, look. I don't have time to explain the whole thing, but basically I saw Fisher in my office yesterday when I was coming back from lunch, and he had just delivered that day's gift from my secret admirer." Cam pauses for a moment to pointedly ignore Booth's groan before carrying on. "Then I thought it might be Fisher who was the secret admirer. So I confronted him about it just now and he swears up and down that he only delivered the package to me because Chuck asked him to. But someone must have given it to Chuck in the first place, because it didn't come directly through the mail this time around."

The line is quiet for several moments, and Cam starts to worry that maybe Booth's hung up on her. She is about to ask if he's still there when he finally speaks.

"So you want me to pump him for information? Find out who gave him the package in the first place?" He doesn't sound overly thrilled about the prospect, but Cam doesn't really care.

"Yes, exactly. I'd do it myself, but it'd take me a good five plus minutes to get down there and then probably another good five minutes to find him, with me being on these crutches and all…"

"All right, fine. I'll do it," Booth grumbles through the phone, making a point of sounding extra miserable. "But only because you're all gimpy right now."

"I am not gimpy!" Cam protests, but she is laughing. "Thanks Booth!" she adds as an afterthought, just before he hangs up the phone.

* * * * *

"So, here's the scoop," Booth announces approximately twenty minutes later, when he barges into Cam's office unannounced.

She turns off her computer monitor and looks up expectantly at him from her seat at her desk. "Let's hear it," she says, anticipation seeping through into her tone.

"He doesn't know anything," is the verdict.

"What? How can he not know anything?" Cam demands, rising to stand in spite of her injury.

Booth shrugs nonchalantly. "He said that it was delivered by a private courier. Chuck signed for it and brought it down to you. But since you weren't around, he asked Fisher if he could bring you the package instead."

This was not the kind of information that Cam was hoping to hear. It seemed awfully suspect in her mind. "Did he say what company? Or what the delivery guy looked like?"

Booth stares at her incredulously. "No. I didn't ask him."

"Why not?" Her petulant child voice is back, but she can't seem to help herself.

"Camille, Chuck is a security guard, not a prime suspect in a murder case. I'm not going to interrogate him as if he is one, even if you've somehow decided that he is in your own warped mind. You know your admirer isn't Fisher – thank God. Why do you need anything else?" Booth sounds about ready to either burst out laughing or smack her upside the head. Possibly even both. "Besides, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough anyway. Stop worrying about it."

The conversation abruptly ends at this point and Cam feels no further ahead than she was before.

**Day 11**

After a night of contemplation and deep thought, Cam decides that the first thing she is going to do on Wednesday morning is open up her past two days worth of secret admirer gifts, as she's allowed them to remain untouched on her desk. The first gift is a beautiful, sky-blue scarf. It matches perfectly with Cam's jacket and she finds that she's quite pleased with the gift, even if she still is a little uncertain about who they're coming from. She tucks the scarf into her jacket sleeve and moves to open the second package. This one is significantly smaller, but she already suspects she knows what it is. Her suspicion is confirmed when she opens the package to reveal a silver necklace. It is simple but elegant at the same time, and at the center is a small angel charm. She suspects that it's moderately priced, but not overly lavish.

Cam is in the middle of admiring the necklace and trying to decide what to do with it when she hears a soft tapping on her office door.

She glances up to see Hodgins standing in the doorway. "What's up?" he asks with a soft smile, leaning casually against the inner doorpost.

"Just opening my secret admirer gifts from the last two days," she tells him plainly, smiling back at him.

"What did you get?" he wonders, walking over to where she's leaning against her desk, and Cam notes how neutral and convincing his voice sounds.

She shows him the scarf and then she shows him the necklace still sitting in the box. "Wow," Hodgins utters softly and meets her gaze. "Are you going to wear it?" he asks after a brief pause.

Cam eyes him curiously, trying to figure out exactly what's going on with him. She feels something warm building up in her chest again and she notes that there is something intimate about the way he's looking at her. "I guess there's no harm in that," she tells him.

Cam fumbles for a moment to put the necklace on by herself, and somehow she almost manages to topple over. A steadying hand on her arm from Hodgins is the only thing that keeps her upright.

"Let me help?" he offers, and she agrees without much fuss. She thinks she's finally learning to allow Hodgins to do things for her without feeling badly.

Hodgins removes the necklace from the box and moves to stand behind Cam. Holding her ponytail out of the way, Cam waits with abated breath. Hodgins lowers the necklace around her neck and clasps it at the back, fingers brushing gently against the nape of her neck as he pulls away in a manner that can be nothing other than deliberate. She finds herself shivering in spite of herself and almost instinctively turns her head to the side, her face nearly colliding with Hodgins. They remain like that for a few moments, breathing in each other's air and invading each other's personal space, and Cam feels the intensity in the air around them shift. And she is quite certain that Hodgins is about to do something – to make his move.

But then the moment ends almost as quickly as it began, when Brennan comes racing into the room. They instinctively pull as far away from each other as they can and turn to meet Brennan's clueless gaze. Hodgins excuses himself with a barely concealed smirk and a longing look as Brennan starts talking. But Cam knows that there was something going on there, something that could have happened, and she feels just a little bit giddy at the thought.

* * * * *

Her eleventh gift arrives late in the day. The card is on the outside of the box this time and she reads it before opening the gift. It reads:

_Tomorrow is the last day. Meet me in the garden at the back of the Jeffersonian at lunch._

_I wish you nothing but the best this holiday season._

_From me,_

_an Admirer_

_P.S. I hope you enjoy this gift. It's one that's especially close to my heart._

Cam smiles in spite of herself and opens up the package sitting in front of her. She examines it for a few moments before finally breaking into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.


	12. Day 12

**Title**: From me, an Admirer

**Author**: AccordingToMel

**Summary**: After Cam starts receiving mysterious gifts, she begins to suspect that she might have a secret admirer.

**Pairings**: Cadgins

**Rating**: T

**Spoilers**: None.

**Word Count**: 3,501

**Disclaimer**: Not mine! Alas…;)

**Author's note**: Oh my goodness, it's actually done!! Wow! What a journey. This is the first multi-chaptered fic that I've ever finished and it's quite a satisfying feeling. Thank you again to everyone who's been so supportive of this. I appreciate it more than you guys know! I hope you get all the answers to any questions you've been having, and that you enjoy the conclusion to this tale :). And last, but not least, I wish you all joy and happiness during this holiday season! Much love :D.

* * *

**From me, an Admirer – Day 12 (The Big Reveal)**

Cam gets up extra early on Thursday morning – Christmas Eve – in order to have enough time to get ready. Today is a special day, she recognizes, and she wants to ensure that things go as perfectly as possible. Cam is the kind of woman who likes to dress up and to look good, but today it feels especially important to her. She initially thinks about wearing a dress or skirt, but considering her still swollen right foot and crutches, she decides that heels will be out of the question.

After searching through virtually every article of clothing she owns, Cam finally decides on an outfit – a form fitting maroon sweater with a U-shaped neckline, and a pair of black slacks. She also wears the necklace and a pair of dangling earrings that match surprisingly well. Lastly, Cam decides to do something particularly bold and uncharacteristic – she curls her hair and leaves it down. When all is said and done, she feels satisfied that she looks both professional and attractive.

She makes the decision to take another cab this morning. Even though she is now allowed to start bearing some weight on her foot, she still needs one of the crutches and thinks it's probably a very bad idea to try and drive just yet.

Cam is surprised to find that Booth and Brennan are the only two in the lab when she arrives at work.

"You look nice," Booth informs her with a smile. "And you're down one crutch. What's the special occasion?"

"Does there need to be a reason for me to look great?" Cam asks him with a smirk.

"Is that a trick question?" Brennan queries to no one in particular, and Booth just laughs.

"Yeah, I think so." To Cam he says, "Of course not. But I'm guessing that this might have something to do with that little matter we were discussing yesterday, am I right?" He winks at her suggestively, and Cam rolls her eyes in good humour.

"Perhaps," she tells him elusively. "Or maybe I just like to look good. Only time will tell."

He nods knowingly. "Well, I hope things turn out how you want them to." His smile is soft and affectionate.

"Thank you. I hope so too." And then she reaches over and gives Booth a hug. She really is grateful for his friendship, even if she doesn't say it often enough. "Merry Christmas, Seeley."

"Same to you, Camille," he replies warmly.

Cam wishes Brennan a Merry Christmas as well and then leaves to go drop her things off in her office.

"Did I miss something?" she hears Brennan ask Booth as she walks away, and she can't help but laugh as she goes.

* * * * *

The morning drags on painfully slowly, in spite of the fact that she ends up spending most of it on the phone. Sometimes she wonders why she chose a job like this – where she has a valid reason to be working right up until the last minute on Christmas Eve – and wishes she had a normal day job where she could leave at noon. But then again, there are some benefits to spending excessive amounts of time with certain people, she reminds herself with a content smile.

Cam gets bundled up and starts making her way outside to the garden at the back at a quarter to twelve because she doesn't want to be late. Also because she figures it might take her a good fifteen minutes to actually get out there, though she's feeling a lot quicker on her feet with having to only use one crutch.

It is snowing lightly again, and it makes everything look even more beautiful. Thankfully someone had cleared away all the previous snow and sanded the sidewalks, so she feels quite confident that she won't be having another tumble to the ground any time in the near future. Of course, her nerves might still work against her in that respect. She reasons, logically, that she shouldn't have anything to be nervous about. Cam knows the identity of her secret admirer with one hundred percent certainty now. She'd suspected before, but with the last gift there left no doubt in her mind…

_Cam had placed the card down on her desk and picked up the box left by her secret admirer. It was long and narrow, and she had a feeling she knew what it was. Lifting the top lid off the box, she had opened it to reveal a single, red rose wrapped in pink tissue paper. However, it was the paper lying on top of the rose that first drew her attention. She read what it said:_

_**$100 Gift Card from Penner's Food**_

_**Order online. We'll deliver right to your door, so you don't have to leave the house!**_

_Hodgins. He was the only one of her "suspects" who'd known the actual reason for her ankle injury._

_And with that realization, she'd burst into laughter that lasted for a good five minutes._

She smiles at the memory and decides to take a seat on the bench while waiting for him to show up. Glancing down at her watch, she sees that it's 11:56. Four more minutes. In an attempt to stave off the nervous fluttering in her belly, Cam decides to relive the last couple of weeks. She has to admit that she'd been quite weary of her 'secret admirer' when the whole thing had begun. Cam does not like being in the dark or feeling like she doesn't have control over something. But over time, she'd warmed up to the idea. Especially when her knowledge of who it could be started to grow.

She finds it funny that a mere two weeks ago Cam wouldn't have thought about the possibility of becoming romantically involved with Jack Hodgins. Not because she doesn't think he's wonderful, but because she'd simply never considered the idea before. Then there's the fact that there are a few complicating factors involved, including the little detail that she is technically his boss. But at this very moment in time, Cam doesn't feel like that bit of information is overly significant. She can't remember the last time she felt genuinely comfortable and at ease in another man's company, and she is constantly surprised by how well she and Hodgins seem to fit together so far. And maybe it's the Christmas spirit getting to her, but she thinks that it's about damn time that they're both happy again.

Her inner musings are interrupted by a gentle hand coming to rest on her shoulder, and Cam jumps just slightly at the unexpected touch.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the voice says warmly, and she glances up to see the hesitantly smiling face of Jack Hodgins.

She instantly rises from the bench so they are standing face to face. "Hodgins," she breathes, staring into his deep blue eyes and gazing at him fondly.

"I assume you've figured out who your secret admirer is," is the first thing he says, smirking. Cam finds him incredibly endearing and wants nothing more than to wrap her arms around his neck and just kiss him.

Instead, she says, "Yeah. I think I was able to figure it out. Though the last clue was pretty obvious." They both laugh, and Cam feels her heart warming at the mere sight of him.

"So you liked the gift certificate then?" Hodgins asks, eyes dancing with mirth.

Cam considers answering him with words, but suddenly she has a much better idea. Without any real planning or forethought, she reaches up to grab onto Hodgins' jacket collar, pulling him down towards her. Before he even really has the chance to react, Cam is pressing her lips against his in their first kiss. It is gentle and slightly hesitant at first, but after a heartbeat he begins to respond to her touch and seems to instinctively deepen the kiss. His arms encircle her waist, pulling her flush against him as he begins to explore her mouth more thoroughly. Cam emits a sound that might be classified as a low moan and reaches up to gently stroke the side of his bearded face. There are tongues and touches and Cam only pulls away from him when she discovers that she needs to breathe again.

"Mmm, yeah. It'll come in handy, I'd imagine," she murmurs breathlessly against his mouth, resting her forehead against his.

"Good. I wouldn't want you falling and breaking something, after all," he tells her, breath warm against her face, and they both laugh once again.

A moment or two passes with the two of them in each other's embrace, foreheads still resting against one another, before Cam reluctantly pulls back from him slightly.

"I, uh, hope you're okay with me just jumping in like that," she says, entwining her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck.

He literally beams at her and shakes his head as if she's speaking pure and utter nonsense. "I definitely don't mind. I kind of wish I'd done that earlier, actually."

"Me too," she tells him sincerely, thinking back to her brief moments of panic when she thought Fisher might have been her admirer. "Me too." And suddenly – because it really is quite amusing – she starts laughing. Quite hard and quite loudly.

Hodgins stares at her with a mixture of confusion and affection, waiting until she calms down before raising his eyebrows in silent question.

"I'm just really glad it's you," Cam admits with a final chuckle, shaking her head at the memory. "For a couple of awful days I thought it might have been Fisher."

His laugh is loud and hearty and fills her with a sense of complete joy. "Fisher? _Really_?!"

She shrugs and grins sheepishly at him. "I know, I know. It's ridiculous. But I had good reason to suspect him. Or at least I thought so at the time. Angela thought I was crazy too, if it makes you feel any better."

Hodgins' face contorts into an expression of pure amusement. "You told Angela you thought it was Fisher?" he asks, and it really seems like he's trying not to laugh.

"Yeah. I needed someone to talk to. Why…?" she asks suspiciously.

But Hodgins just continues to smirk and instead wraps an arm around her shoulders. "I'll explain everything soon," he tells her, and if she purposely leans into the embrace, he doesn't say anything. "For now, we should probably head out for lunch. It's getting chilly out here."

Cam nods in agreement. However, before she allows Hodgins to move away, she tugs gently on his scarf and pulls him in for one more kiss. His lips are soft and pliable beneath hers, and she can't remember the last time she felt this happy.

"I could get used to this," Hodgins murmurs against her lips when he finally pulls away.

"So could I," she responds cheerfully.

* * * * *

Their lunch plans end up being closer to home than she'd originally thought. Hodgins takes Cam back to her office where he has arranged a picnic for them. They close the blinds and lock the door, which they hope will dissuade anyone from trying to bother them, and sit down beside one another on her couch.

"I imagine you probably have a lot of questions for me," Hodgins says as he begins to unpack the food that's inside the picnic basket sitting in front of him. There are various salads and miniature quiche, sandwiches, some sort of warm potato casserole, two types of buns, and what appears to be a ridiculous amount of desserts. It looks absolutely stunning, but then again, she wouldn't expect anything less from him. "So go ahead and ask. I'm an open book!"

"I have a lot of questions, actually," she admits. Because she really does. But she's not even entirely sure where to start. She thinks about all the possible things she could ask him, but finally settles on what she considers to be the most prominent question. "How did you manage to pull this whole thing off?"

He laughs as he hands her a plate and begins opening up various containers filled with a wide assortment of food. "That's a pretty hefty question, but okay. I'll answer it." There is a slight pause before he continues. "I decided I wanted to do it, I went out and bought the presents, and then I sent them to you."

Cam immediately starts to laugh, reaching over and smacking him playfully on the arm. "Well, that much was obvious. I mean, how did you know what to buy for me? Who wrote the notes on the cards? I didn't recognize the handwriting at all. And did you have help from anybody?"

"Wow, that's a lot of questions. But at least you're getting more specific."

She smirks. "I try."

He grins back at her and starts to fill his plate as he answers her questions. "First of all, most of the gift ideas were my own. In spite of what it may seem, I do pay attention to what you say and I do remember the little details. I have for quite a while now, actually." Hodgins ducks his head slightly, and it looks like he might be blushing just a bit. Cam is tempted to kiss his cheek for being so adorable, but she manages to restrain herself. "So most of it came from my own brain."

"Does that mean you didn't have Booth's help then?" she wonders. She tries a bite of the raspberry spinach salad on her plate and is struck by how delicious it is. Hodgins is either a fantastic cook, or he knows someone who is.

"Oh, I had help," he admits with a mischievous look. "But not from Booth. Well, not directly anyway. Angela ended up accidentally finding out about my idea about two weeks before I was planning to start it, and decided she wanted to help. And since I didn't have the entire thing organized, I thought maybe she could be of some assistance to me. I was a couple gift ideas short, so I asked her if she could do some digging for me. I didn't know until later that some of her digging included talking to Booth." He shrugs, somewhat sheepishly. "Angela is very good though, and she assured me that he wouldn't suspect a thing."

"Well that sure explains why Angela was so excited for me about the whole thing. Of course, that's probably how she'd react regardless." A thought dawns on Cam then. "So then when I suggested Fisher..." she trails off and starts to laugh. "She must have thought I was insane! No wonder she told me she was absolutely certain it wasn't him."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't exactly strike me as a candidate for something like this regardless. No offense mean to him of course," Hodgins shares humorously.

"So what about the writing? Whose was it?"

"That was Zack, actually. His handwriting has changed quite a lot since he had to re-learn how to write. I figured he would be the perfect candidate. Someone who would help me and wouldn't risk spilling the secret." He sounds quite proud about this, and Cam has to admit that she's fairly impressed.

She nods and attempts to clarify what she's heard thus far. "Okay, so Booth inadvertently helped, and Angela and Zack were directly involved. What about last Friday when you came by with the gifts and the soup for me? Was that all a story as well?"

Hodgins shakes his head and finishes swallowing his food before speaking again. "For the most part, no. We really were concerned about you and thought someone should stop by to see how you were doing. Angela was the one who told me that this would be the perfect opportunity – I had an excuse to go and see you because I had to bring you the admirer presents. The soup was my idea. Though you should know I would have volunteered regardless."

Cam looks at him disbelievingly but smirks anyway. "Sure, sure." She doesn't doubt what he's saying, and feels a rush of pleasure wash over her, knowing that he was genuinely concerned.

"So that's it for me. Now do I get a chance to ask _you_ some questions?" Hodgins wonders, poking her gently in the side. "Because there are a few things that I've been curious about too."

Cam smiles and shrugs nonchalantly. "Yeah, I suppose it's only fair."

"Why were you so resistant to the idea of having a secret admirer initially?" he asks her, unsurprisingly. She suspects there are probably a lot of people wondering that.

This is something that can be explained in a lot of ways, but specifically can be traced back to an incident in high school. It's somewhat embarrassing to share this story, but this is Hodgins, and she knows she can talk to him and feel comfortable and he won't judge her.

"Okay, look... Back when I was in early high school – a freshman I believe – I had a 'secret admirer' as well. I was actually pretty excited, even if I didn't let on about it. Except that in the end it ended up being a prank that a few of the seniors pulled on me. I guess I've been a little wary of the idea ever since."

"Aww, baby, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Hodgins tells her, reaching out to cup the side of her face gently. "I wouldn't have done it if I had."

But Cam just shakes her head at him, noting very clearly his use of the term '_baby_,' but deciding not to comment on it at the moment. "How would you have known? It's okay. Besides, it wasn't a joke aimed particularly at me. I was just the random person that the seniors chose. Plus, I'm not very good with situations where I don't feel like I'm in control. This being one of them."

"Well, then I'm sorry for what those guys did to you. Men can behave like a bunch of assholes at that age," he tells her, and leans in to kiss her softly on the cheek, almost as if he wants her to know that not all men are idiots.

A knock sounds at the door then, and after a silent discussion with Cam over the matter, Hodgins gets up to answer the door.

"Hodgins, what are you doing here?" she hears a woman's voice ask. Angela.

"I was consulting with Dr. Saroyan on something," he says quickly.

"What would you be consulting with her about? The case is pretty much closed," Angela points out logically.

He doesn't even have time to respond before she's poking her head in the room and looking around. "Oh." It takes a moment, but then it seems to dawn on her. "Oh! You guys are '_consulting_' in here. I get it. Sorry for the intrusion."

Even from where she's sitting, Cam can see Hodgins' obvious eye roll. "Don't make it sound so sordid, Ange. We're just having lunch."

"Right. _Lunch_. If that's what we're calling it these days," Angela teases with an exaggerated wink in Cam's direction.

"Angela!" both Cam and Hodgins cry at the same time, and all three burst out laughing.

Angela raises her hands in surrender. "Look, I'm thrilled for you. For this. Whatever it is. You both deserve to be happy. I just came in here to tell you that we're almost ready to do the gift exchange." She stops, and Cam thinks she's finished. But just before she's about to leave, she tacks on, "Of course, I can always tell them that you two are busy '_consulting_' and won't be able to make it."

Cam throws a bun in her direction and this time she really does run away, laughing wickedly as she does.

Hodgins comes back to join Cam on the couch and begins to tidy up the leftover food. "I suppose we should get going," he says reluctantly after a moment. "Who knows what kind of rumours Angela will manage to start if we don't get there in time."

Cam laughs and nods, having had the very same thought herself. She joins Hodgins in cleaning up the table in front of them. "You're right." And then, "Thank you for everything. I never said that before, but I appreciate everything you've done and every gift you've given me. You're an incredible man, Jack Hodgins."

And he doesn't seem to know what to do with this information, so he leans forward and captures her mouth in another lingering kiss. They remain like this for several moments, enjoying the taste and feel of one another, until Cam reluctantly breaks the kiss. "We should really go now," she says, smirking lightly.

He helps her up off the couch and after one final check of the room, they head to the lab hand in hand.

**THE END!**


End file.
